{"id":7876,"date":"2024-12-08T13:55:10","date_gmt":"2024-12-08T21:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/?p=7876"},"modified":"2024-12-09T09:43:14","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T17:43:14","slug":"clubius-contained-part-35-thunderball-march-1966","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/08\/clubius-contained-part-35-thunderball-march-1966\/","title":{"rendered":"Clubius Contained Part 35 – Thunderball (March 1966)"},"content":{"rendered":"
It was Saturday, and it was cold and gray and windy and wet outside. We were all still waiting for that first day of spring. You knew it when it came. All of a sudden the day would be a little warmer, the sun would shine, and there would be that energy in the air, that you could even feel in your body, like everything was suddenly coming back alive around you, and you could smell it in all the plants. Mom\u2019s new friend Maryjane said that Mother Nature would flip a switch and it would suddenly be spring.<\/p>\n
Midnight was getting bigger and stronger though he was still a kitten. But now he could jump up on our beds by himself, and didn\u2019t have to meow at us to pick him up and put him on one of our beds so he could sleep there. Besides mom calling him \u201cMiddie\u201d, David and I were giving him our own nicknames. It wasn\u2019t just mom that liked to give everybody nicknames, David and I liked it too. David called him \u201cNawnee\u201d, which I think came from the words \u201cno need\u201d, that David said to him when he got all crazed, to try and calm him down. I called him \u201cCoolers\u201d because I thought he was pretty cool, the way he strutted around like he was in charge of things. David and I agreed that his \u201cfull name\u201d was \u201cMidnight Nawnee Coolers Zale\u201d.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
I had already seen the new James Bond \u201cThunderball\u201d movie FIVE TIMES. The first time with Maryjane\u2019s kids Zeke and Gordon. The second time was with Dad and David, though mom wasn\u2019t happy about us seeing it, specially David. So I made sure not to tell mom the next times I saw it. I watched it twice even, with Billy, Teddy, Gil and Cal. It was pretty neat. We went to the 11 o\u2019clock show, watched the movie once, and then stayed in the theater and watched it again. Then I saw it with Andy, Mike and Arthur. Andy and Arthur wanted to stay and watch it a second time, but Mike didn\u2019t, so we decided to go home.<\/p>\n
We usually went to the show on Saturday or Sunday at 11 o\u2019clock, and there weren\u2019t many other people there watching, and we\u2019d sit up close in the front row so everything in the movie was giant in front of us. We\u2019d buy a big bucket of popcorn to share and then our own boxes of candies, though we\u2019d end up sharing those too, but more like trading. Four malted milk balls for a stick of red licorice, stuff like that.<\/p>\n
Now today, it turned out I was going to see it AGAIN, this time with Stuart and Frankie. I had gone over to Frankie\u2019s house this morning for a meeting of their secret organization, \u201cY.A.C.C.O.\u201d, which was short for \u201cYoung Agents of Chaos and Craziness Organization\u201d. Because of all the secret agent and spy stuff out there – like \u201cMan From U.N.C.L.E.\u201d, \u201cI Spy\u201d, \u201cGet Smart\u201d, \u201cWild Wild West\u201d, James Bond books, and now the new James Bond movie \u201cThunderball\u201d – we were all trying to do our own secret agent and spy stuff all the time, at least when we weren\u2019t in school.<\/p>\n
Billy and Gil had set up their \u201cG.R.A.P.E.\u201d, which was short for \u201cGranger Rangers of Absolute Preeminence and Esteem\u201d, and had \u201crecruited\u201d Teddy and Cal to join. They let me kind of join too, even though I didn\u2019t live on Granger, though only as a \u201cjunior partner\u201d. Cal didn\u2019t actually live on Granger either, but his street, who\u2019s name I could never remember, SEEMED like it was on Granger, because you\u2019d be going down Granger and then keep going across Ferdon and then you\u2019d be on Cal\u2019s street. Billy said Cal\u2019s house was on \u201csecret Granger\u201d. Their group\u2019s plan, according to Billy was to do secret \u201cactions\u201d against the \u201cenemy organizations\u201d, which included sneaking out after it got dark and when no one was around to see them, and throwing rolls of toilet paper in the trees in front of some \u201cenemy\u2019s\u201d house, like Myrna or Frankie or Andy, and then running away before anyone saw them.<\/p>\n
Andy had set up his group, \u201cB.P.O.U.N.D.\u201d, or \u201cBurns Park Organization for United Neighborhood Defense\u201d after the trees in front of his house ended up with toilet paper in them. He had gotten Mike, Arthur and me to come to his secret meetings at his house. When I told him that Billy had invited me to join his G.R.A.P.E. group, Andy wanted me to be a \u201cdouble agent\u201d for HIS group, and join Billy\u2019s group, pretend I was working for them, but really be spying for Andy\u2019s group. I agreed. I had also agreed to be a double agent for Billy\u2019s group to spy on Frankie\u2019s group, and to spy on Billy\u2019s group for Frankie\u2019s. I agreed to it all. I was kind of a \u201ctriple agent\u201d, but all three groups thought I was doing a good job and working for them. Who I was REALLY working for was hard to say. I was just doing what all my friends wanted me to do so they\u2019d think I was cool, though with each group I had to be careful what I said and didn\u2019t say so they didn\u2019t figure out I was spying on them too.<\/p>\n
All three groups figured Myrna must have set up her own secret organization for the girls, which they figured was SO secret, us boys didn\u2019t know if it even existed. Billy said he\u2019d heard the girls group\u2019s name was \u201cG.R.E.A.T.\u201d, which was short for \u201cGirls Rule Everywhere Always Triumphs\u201d, but I wondered if he\u2019d just made that up. Myrna lived on Dewey on the other side of Packard, which was kind of a long way from the rest of us, so her house was hard to spy on. But ABBY, who they all figured must be in Myrna\u2019s super secret group because they were close friends, lived right across the street from me, so all three boys\u2019 groups asked me to spy on Myrna when she went over to Abby\u2019s house, which she did a lot.<\/p>\n
So I tried to spy on Abby\u2019s house, especially when Myrna was there. Abby\u2019s room was upstairs and had a window in the front of the house that I could see really well from the attic window in the front of our house, especially in the winter when there were no leaves on the trees in our front yard. I could see in her window kind of, though I couldn\u2019t hear anything they were saying. But sometimes, Myrna and Abby and Beth would sit in Abby\u2019s backyard \u201cpatio\u201d and talk about stuff. I could sneak down the alley behind her house and hide behind the bushes in the back part of her backyard along the alley, and hear what they were saying, and then report to all the three boy groups.<\/p>\n
Anyway, after I had reported at the secret Y.A.C.C.O. meeting this morning at Frankie\u2019s house on the latest on Myrna activity at Abby\u2019s house and G.R.A.P.E. activity at Billy\u2019s, we adjourned the meeting and Frankie suggested we go see \u201cThunderball\u201d. They had seen it a bunch of times already, but wanted to see it again. I had money, enough to buy a ticket and candy and stuff, so I agreed.<\/p>\n
All my friends were really into James Bond and secret agent stuff, and Stuart, Frankie, Mike, Arthur, Billy and I were all starting to read the James Bond books too. Mrs Herman even let us do book reports on them for school credit, though they didn\u2019t have any of those books in the library. Most of us were reading them in order, so I\u2019d read \u201cCasino Royale\u201d, \u201cLive and Let Die\u201d and \u201cMoonraker\u201d. Billy was reading whichever one he thought had the most interesting title of the ones he hadn\u2019t read yet, so he had read Thunderball, though he said he liked the movie better. Most of us had seen the \u201cGoldfinger\u201d movie last winter, which was really really cool. None of us had been into James Bond when the \u201cDoctor No\u201d and \u201cFrom Russia with Love\u201d movies came out before that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore we go\u201d, Frankie said to me, \u201cHave you heard that new Johnny Rivers song? \u2018Secret Agent Man\u2019?\u201d I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard it a couple times on CK\u201d, I said, trying to be cool by not saying the whole \u201cCKLW\u201d, like other kids were doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother Donny just bought the fortyfive at Discount\u201d, he said, \u201cWe gotta hear it before we go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frankie and his brother Donny had a better record player than David and I did. It had this big silver metal box thing with lots of dials buttons and cables coming out of it that looked like a giant radio called a \u201ctuner\u201d. On a shelf in their room was a whole bunch of those fortyfive \u201csingle\u201d records. Frankie had to look through them to find the one he wanted, but he finally did. He turned that \u201ctuner\u201d thing on and the speakers it was hooked up to hummed. Then he started the record on the record player part.<\/p>\n
The beginning guitar part started. It was really loud, jangly, and super neat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to figure out how to play that on the guitar\u201d, Frankie said, \u201cDonny can, and oh he got an electric one\u201d, and he pointed at the thing leaning against the wall, all shiny green and black with dials and plugs on the front, \u201cBut he won\u2019t let me play it yet.\u201d Then the words started, and Frankie started singing along with the guy on the record\u2026<\/p>\n
There’s a man who leads a life of danger \nTo everyone he meets he stays a stranger \nWith every move he makes another chance he takes \nOdds are he won’t live to see tomorrow<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I thought about that last line. Could I live like that, knowing that I\u2019d probably make some mistake and end up getting shot or blown up? I mean it was super cool for pretending, but for real?<\/p>\n
And for the chorus part, Stuart sang along, even doing a harmony\u2026<\/p>\n
Secret agent man \nSecret agent man \nThey’ve given you a number, and taken away your name<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I could sing, but not as cool as Frankie and Stuart could. So I didn\u2019t try to sing along on the chorus part with the two of them\u2026<\/p>\n
Beware of pretty faces that you find \nA pretty face can hide an evil mind<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cLike Myrna\u2019s\u201d, I said. Trying to join in somehow. I didn\u2019t really think she was evil, but she always thought she had EVERYTHING figured out, specially boys, and I knew Frankie and Stuart didn\u2019t like her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMyrna?\u201d said Frankie, \u201cNo way SHE\u2019S pretty. But yeah, she has an evil mind, you\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh, be careful what you say \nOr you will give yourself away \nOdds are you won’t live to see tomorrow<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I guess a lot of boys seemed to think some girls had evil minds, specially older boys like the Beatles and those other Rock bands we all listened to\u2026<\/p>\n
Swinging on the Riviera one day \nAnd then laying in a Bombay alley next day \nOh no you let the wrong word slip \nWhile kissing persuasive lips \nOdds are you won’t live to see tomorrow<\/p>\n
Secret agent man \nSecret agent man \nThey’ve given you a number, and taken away your name<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Frankie turned off the record player and the \u201ctuner\u201d part, put the record back in its paper holder and the three of us put on our jackets and headed out into the cold wetness up Olivia towards Hill.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you see on TV\u201d, Stuart said, \u201cThat super religious people in the South are burning Beatles records because of what Lennon said about being more popular than Jesus?\u201d Stuart liked to be super cool and call musicians and other famous people just by their last names.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cThat\u2019s crazy stuff. He was just trying to make a point about how popular they are, especially all those screaming girls. I don\u2019t know\u2026 it’s embarrassing, screaming and crying like that, but what, they\u2019re girls.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re WHITE girls\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cNow those black girls, like in the Motown groups, are way too cool to ever scream like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAgreed\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cWay too cool. They\u2019re too busy singing\u2026\u201d, and he started to sing that new song by the Marvelettes\u2026<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t mess with Bill<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And Stuart started singing the next two lines\u2026<\/p>\n
No, no, no, no \nDon\u2019t mess with Bill<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And Frankie got loud singing with a really high voice trying to sound like that main singer for the Marvelettes, with Stuart doing the \u201cdon\u2019t mess\u201d parts\u2026<\/p>\n
Leave my Billy alone (don\u2019t mess with Bill) \nFind a guy of your own (don\u2019t mess with Bill)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Two college student guys were up ahead of us walking towards us. We all saw them and Frankie and Stuart stopped singing and looked like embarrassed little kids.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t stop on our account\u201d, said one of them as they walked by us on the sidewalk, \u201cYou guys sound pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frankie looked at Stuart and me and made a silly face and asked, \u201cWe did?\u201d I laughed. That\u2019s why I liked hanging out with those two, they just always did singing and silly stuff that I kind of wanted to do but was too shy, too embarrassed to do.<\/p>\n
Frankie and Stuart loved to talk, and to sing, though when they were together Frankie always seemed like he was in charge of the talking. But when Frankie WASN\u2019T around, and it was Stuart and me, or Mike or our other friends, Stuart was usually in charge of the talking.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Coop\u201d, Frankie asked, \u201cHow many times have you seen Thunderball?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFive\u201d, I said, \u201cThis\u2019ll be my sixth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Seventh\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cI\u2019m up to seeing it twice. That\u2019ll be only my fourth and fifth.\u201d He shook his head slowly and made a pretend sad face.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeventh and eighth for me\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cBut what I wanna know, Coop, is what\u2019re your MOST favorite and LEAST favorite parts?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a tough one\u201d, I said, \u201cThe whole movie is SO cool.\u201d I always said \u201ccool\u201d instead of \u201cneat\u201d when I was talking to the two of them, because they said \u201ccool\u201d a lot, and I think they thought \u201cneat\u201d was more of a little kid word.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like when all the guys in the scuba suits and spearguns have that underwater battle\u201d, I said, \u201cAnd when Largo\u2019s boat unhooks the back part and takes off on those hydrofoil things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, said Frankie, being in charge, \u201cGood choices\u2026 now least.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s even harder\u201d, I said, \u201cIt was such a good movie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHey\u201d, said Frankie, making a grin and winking at me, \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t hard it wouldn\u2019t be a fun question, would it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo true\u201d, said Stuart, like Frankie was the coolest person in the world and Stuart wanted to tell him that.<\/p>\n
Frankie certainly could be \u201cfull of himself\u201d, that\u2019s what mom might say. I figured I\u2019d say something Frankie wouldn\u2019t like, just to make him mad.<\/p>\n
So I said, \u201cMy least favorite part is when Bond punches that woman wearing a veil in that beginning part and it turns out to really be a man, that SPECTRE guy, Colonel Bouvar. I thought it was pretty stupid.\u201d I ACTUALLY had thought it was cool the first time I saw it, but I didn\u2019t tell him that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWHAT?\u201d he said, opening his eyes wide and tilting his head, \u201cThat\u2019s my absolute favorite part!\u201d I KNEW he was going to say that and I did a laugh in my mind, but not so they could see or hear it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso\u201d, I said, \u201cI don\u2019t like the Tom Jones theme song.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAh, come on\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cIt\u2019s perfection!\u201d And he started to sing, and Frankie did the music parts at the end of each line\u2026<\/p>\n
He always runs while others walk (bah dot da dah) \nHe acts while other men just talk (bah dot da dah) \nHe looks at this world, and wants it all (dah dah dah) \nSo he strikes (dah duh dah duh dah) like Thunderball (dah duh dah)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cDifferent strokes for different folks\u201d, I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sound like Mike\u201d, Stuart said. I HAD heard Mike say that a couple times.<\/p>\n
When we got to Hill we turned left and walked down to Forest. That was where the building was that dad worked at now. He worked for the University of Michigan now, this new \u201cLanguage Learning Center\u201d place, though he said he also still taught classes in the evening at Eastern to make some extra money. His office was up at the top of this really neat metal fire escape. David and I would go up and down it like we were on a giant World War Two battleship or maybe submarine. I guess more like a battleship because it was outside.<\/p>\n
I thought to tell Stuart and Frankie that my dad worked there, but then I didn\u2019t because I didn\u2019t want to bring him up in case one of them had heard somehow that mom and dad were divorced and tried to ask me about it.<\/p>\n
But then we went around the corner and walked up Forest and we went by the two houses next to each other that were my old Play School. I pointed at them across the street.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where I went to Play School\u201d, I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean, Nursery School\u201d, said Frankie.<\/p>\n
\u201cNope\u201d, I said, remembering that awful day I\u2019d had at that nursery school place before mom had me go to Play School instead, \u201cI HATED nursery school but that Towsley place was great!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHunh\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cHow so?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had great toys\u201d, I said, \u201cAnd they let you play all the time with them, except if you wanted to listen to one of the teachers read a story, like Winnie the Pooh.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cI LOVED Winnie the Pooh!\u201d Frankie laughed through his nose like Stuart was silly.<\/p>\n
We kept walking up Forest to South U, where all the stores and restaurants were and the students were walking around, then down South U to where the \u201cEngineering Arch\u201d was, that\u2019s what mom and dad called it, like it was some real special place that they really liked. Abby and Steve said their dad worked there as an \u201cEngineering Professor\u201d and that there was a giant water tank where they did experiments. It sounded neat, though I\u2019d never seen it.<\/p>\n
I liked walking under the arch and through the little tunnel into the \u201cDiag\u201d, which was short for \u201cdiagonal\u201d, though it looked more like a square area on all the maps of Ann Arbor or the campus area. Walking through there was like going into the students’ castle or fort, because inside there a lot of them would sit on the ground like it was their backyard or something, though not so much on a cold, drizzly day where all the ground was wet. But still students sat on benches, on steps and other concrete blocks that were around and talked to each other.<\/p>\n
Some of the students would look at us and smile, some would nod their heads and others would shake theirs, whatever that meant. We\u2019d walk by some that would tease us in a nice way and say stuff like, \u201cThe freshmen are looking younger and younger every year.\u201d That would make us smile and feel like we were part of their team, against the grownup team. They\u2019d just been on the team longer than we had. I really liked that feeling. Yeah there were grownups walking around too, but you could tell that they knew it wasn\u2019t THEIR place. It was funny that at my school, and my old Bach School, even though there were way more kids than grownups, the grownup teachers and coaches and other ones walked around like it was THEIR place, not ours! I guess that was true, because if it was OUR place it would be really different.<\/p>\n
At the far corner of the Diag, or square, or whatever it really was, was State Street. It had a lot of really neat places on it. Down there to the left was the Union, where dad took David and me to get our hair cut and had those neat elevators and other cool places. Then just up the street from the Union was that little museum that had the mummies in it. Right across from where we were was the Arcade, which was like a big sidewalk between buildings, except it had a roof on it that you could see through which was super neat. Then just up from there was my new favorite store, Discount Records. Riders was my other favorite store, because it had all the war games and models.<\/p>\n
So we crossed State Street, just like all the students did, just walking across wherever and whenever we wanted, making the cars stop for US for a change. As we walked up the sidewalk on the other side toward our favorite record store, we could hear the song they were playing.<\/p>\n
Oh, I’m going (Rider) with my baby (Rider) \nAnd I won’t be (Rider) back ’til fall, yeah (Rider) \nOh, I’m going (Rider) with my baby (Rider) \nAnd I won’t be (Rider) back ’til fall, yeah (Rider) \nAnd if I find me a new girl \nI won’t be back at all (C.C. rider, C.C. Rider)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cThe Detroit Wheels\u201d, Stuart shouted, \u201cMitch Ryder!\u201d He started snapping his fingers and doing dancing steps along the sidewalk as we walked up to the record store on the corner.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat Song\u201d, said Frankie, also starting to do the same kind of dancing following right behind Stuart like they were doing a show or something. I felt kind of uncomfortable, and looked around to see if people were looking at us, and some were. I wanted my two friends to think I was cool and one of them, so I should be dancing too, but I was embarrassed about dancing so I didn\u2019t, though I did move my head up and down and side to side to the beat. I was trying to figure out how else I could show them that I knew some of this cool music stuff too, so I said, \u201cThat\u2019s that CC Rider song\u2026 yeah, it\u2019s really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell actually\u201d, said Frankie, still dancing as he walked forward, \u201cPeople make that mistake. The song\u2019s called \u2018Jenny Take a Ride\u2019.\u201d So much for trying to impress Frankie!<\/p>\n
Ah, Jenny, Jenny, Jenny, won’t you come along with me \n(Jenny, Jenny, woo, Jenny, Jenny) \nJenny Jenny, Jenny, won’t you come along with me \n(Jenny, Jenny, woo, Jenny, Jenny) \nI worry ’bout you, baby, spendin’ nights in misery<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Finally we got to the corner where Liberty ran into State. The State Theater was across the street. It was showing that new comedy secret agent movie, \u201cOur Man Flint\u201d, that I hadn\u2019t seen yet. Mike, Andy and Arthur had, and Mike said he liked it better than \u201cThunderball\u201d, because it was a \u201cparody\u201d, which I think was pretty much like a satire.<\/p>\n
Still dancing to the music behind us now, Stuart and Frankie just danced out onto Liberty, I don\u2019t think they even looked both ways first. I did, and I followed them, moving my head to the beat. We bought our tickets at the box office. They each cost 75 cents, which was more than the 50 cents I had paid to see \u201cGoldfinger\u201d. Finally my two friends stopped dancing as we went inside.<\/p>\n
The Michigan Theater was much neater than the State. It had this giant lobby with thick red carpet and was super quiet. Two big round staircases went up on either side to the upstairs part where you could get to the balcony. Mom said it had been a \u201cregular theater\u201d a long time ago that also showed movies. Across from the staircases was the long glass counter where we could buy stuff to eat and drink. You could smell the buttered popcorn really strong.<\/p>\n
Frankie turned toward us and pointed a finger at Stuart and another at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo here\u2019s how it should go\u201d, he said, \u201cWe each buy a thing of buttered popcorn, cokes, and candy of our choice that\u2019s sharable. Deal?\u201d Stuart and I both nodded our heads.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoop. You okay with Red Hots?\u201d Stuart asked. I nodded. I guess he already knew Frankie liked them, because they were best friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cMalted Milk Balls here\u201d, Frankie said, \u201cFavored by everyone.\u201d I nodded. They WERE good!<\/p>\n
So I followed along. \u201cYou guys like red licorice?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cWho doesn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMike doesn\u2019t\u201d, Stuart said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, Mike\u201d, said Frankie, shaking his head, \u201cHe\u2019s a special case. He didn\u2019t even like this movie. Can you believe it? He said it was \u2018nasty\u2019.\u201d I remembered that at one of mom\u2019s parties her new friend Maryjane said the movie was a \u201cpatriarchal fetish\u201d, but I didn\u2019t know what either of those words meant.<\/p>\n
So we bought all our stuff and Frankie got the guy to give him one of those boxes with those special holders you can put your drinks in the corners, though he didn\u2019t use it for that. Always in charge, he asked the two of us, \u201cBalcony or front row?\u201d I beat Stuart to the response.<\/p>\n
\u201cFront row\u201d, I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood man\u201d, said Frankie. Older kids were saying that a lot now, like they were trying to be like grownups. But I wouldn\u2019t say it, I would never try to be like a grownup.<\/p>\n
We got our seats in the middle of the front row. There was nobody else in the theater except this older boy and girl sitting in the middle in the very back row. They noticed us coming in and I could tell they were talking about us. He was saying stuff to her and she was shaking her head. Finally she stood up and started walking to the aisle. So he stood up too and they went out the doors to the lobby. In a minute we could see them come in the doors of the balcony.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably want to make out during the movie\u201d, Frankie said.<\/p>\n
The lights went down and the giant curtain in front of the screen went up. I could hear its motor humming to raise it. The screen lit up with that music I\u2019d heard so many times at the beginning of a Roadrunner and Wile E Coyote cartoon. It had the pretty regular stuff, Wile E Coyote falling off the cliff and crashing to the ground with a puff of dust, and then to make it worse the big rock falling on him too. Then him painting rocks to look like the entrance to a tunnel and a road through, Roadrunner going through it, but when Coyote tried to follow he just splats against the rock wall. Finally he straps this big rocket to his back, and when Roadrunner zooms by him he lights the fuse and its engine goes fast enough that he finally gets ready to grab him but the road turns at the side of another cliff but the rocket doesn\u2019t turn and Coyote smashes into the side of the mountain on the other side of the cliff and then of course falls down that cliff to a final puff of dust. Roadrunner looks at us, sticks out his tongue and zooms off, followed by the music.<\/p>\n
The screen went dark for a moment and then our movie started. We had all seen it enough that we knew what was going to happen, but it was still fun because it was a whole world of places and buildings and people that we\u2019d never seen anywhere else. And each time we watched it, we saw things we hadn\u2019t noticed before.<\/p>\n
Like in that first scene, the one that I told Frankie I didn\u2019t like just to make him mad, the woman helping Bond thinks the dead guy in the casket is that SPECTRE Number 6 guy, Bouvar, and the woman in black with the veil over her face is his widow. But Bond knows that Bouvar is only faking he\u2019s dead and that he is dressed in that black dress and veil. So when Bouvar, still dressed as that woman with the veil so you can\u2019t see his face, goes home to his giant house, and goes up stairs to this giant living room, Bond is there waiting.<\/p>\n
Bond: Madame. (Walking towards Bouvar) I\u2019m here to offer my sincere condolences. (Punching Bouvar in the face, knocking him down)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cDo you guys remember the first time you saw the movie?\u201d Frankie asked, \u201cAnd you thought he was slugging this woman? Wasn\u2019t that crazy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cTotally crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought so too the first time, but now seeing the movie for the SIXTH time, it just seemed kind of stupid, but I didn\u2019t say anything more about it. I DID still like watching how Bond escaped with that jet pack thing on his back. I\u2019d seen stories in the news about those jet packs and they seemed really cool. And his CAR, that Astin Martin, was REALLY cool. The badguys are running after them but Bond and that woman get in the car and then put of that shield in the back to stop the bullets. Then they spray the bad guys with water as they drive off and the screen turns all watery and blue and the \u201cThunderball\u201d song starts, sung by Tom Jones.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still can\u2019t believe you don\u2019t like this song\u201d, Frankie whispered to me. I think it was because mom REALLY liked Tom Jones but I thought he sounded like a grownup trying to sing like he was an older kid. Stuart and Frankie sang along. Frankie even wagged his finger\u2026<\/p>\n
He always runs while others walk \nHe acts while other men just talk \nHe looks at this world, and wants it all \nSo he strikes, like Thunderball<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Each time I\u2019d seen the movie I\u2019d heard the song, and I\u2019d think about the words in it more and more\u2026<\/p>\n
He knows the meaning of success \nHis needs are more, so he gives less<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I figured the \u201che\u201d in the song had to be James Bond, or just \u201cBond\u201d as we called him now to sound more cool. So what were his \u201cneeds\u201d and why were they more? Did he need more sexy women and sex because he was a secret agent, and like Johnny Rivers sang, \u201cWith every move he makes another chance he takes\u2026 Odds are he won’t live to see tomorrow?\u201d So he might as well have as much grownup fun as he can before somebody kills him.<\/p>\n
They call him the winner who takes all \nAnd he strikes, like Thunderball<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That line made him sound like he wasn\u2019t very nice. But he seemed pretty nice in most of the movie when he wasn\u2019t killing guys, though they WERE badguys, and they WERE trying to kill him first, and he WAS a grownup.<\/p>\n
Any woman he wants, he’ll get \nHe will break any heart without regret<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This made him seem not very nice too. Was that what grownup men did, they GOT women? Did dad GET mom? Did he get that other woman that he had sex with that mom found out about? Did he break mom\u2019s heart?<\/p>\n
His days of asking are all gone \nHis fight goes on and on and on \nBut he thinks that the fight is worth it all \nSo he strikes like Thunderball<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Now the first time I saw the movie and that scene after the theme song where you think he\u2019s punching a woman in the face who wasn\u2019t even fighting with him, it was like a total shock, and kind of funny even, in a weird kind of way. But if Bond was going to end up killing him, why didn\u2019t he just shoot him instead of punching him and almost getting killed himself?<\/p>\n
But all three of us thought it was still cool when that guy at the SPECTRE meeting that messed up got electrocuted by \u201cNumber One\u201d pushing that button, and then his chair lowered into the floor with the dead guy in it and then came back up empty. It was cool because it was the SPECTRE badguys, and they were supposed to do stuff like that. If the goodguys did that to one of THEIR guys, that would be different.<\/p>\n
And all three of us knew that James Bond and M\u2019s secretary, Moneypenny, liked each other. They were talking to each other on the phone about this tattoo that a guy had that Bond wanted to find out about\u2026<\/p>\n
Moneypenny: A red square with a spike through it?<\/p>\n
Bond: Yes, I think it\u2019s a Tong sign. The Red Dragon from Macau. Ask records to verify it for me, will you?<\/p>\n
Moneypenny: Oh sorry, sweetie, you’re off duty. File it til you get back.<\/p>\n
Bond: Moneypenny, next time I see you, I\u2019ll put you across my knee.<\/p>\n
Moneypenny: On yogurt and lemon juice? I can hardly wait.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I know some grownups spanked kids. Mom would never do it, but dad did it to me that time when I swore at mom when I was three. But did grownup men like to spank grownup women that they liked a lot, and did those grownup women like to get spanked? And did they get naked and do it? It just seemed really weird to me.<\/p>\n
Frankie and Stuart didn\u2019t say anything when Bond and Moneypenny said that. I looked at Stuart and he made a face like he didn\u2019t know what they were talking about. It had to be some grownup sex thing.<\/p>\n
And a little later in the movie Bond goes into this room in a bathrobe where this I guess nurse woman is looking at his x-ray. He comes up behind her and puts his hand on her shoulder and looks at the x-ray too.<\/p>\n
Bond: Do I seem healthy?<\/p>\n
Woman: Too healthy by far. (She pushes his hand off her shoulder) Take off your bathrobe please.<\/p>\n
Bond: (Taking off his robe so he\u2019s just in his underwear) You never say that as if you meant it.<\/p>\n
Woman: (Annoyed) Arms above your head, please. (He puts them above his head as she puts her hands on his waist and examines his back and sees a wound there)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
When she stands back up he brings his arms down and around her, grabbing and kissing her on the mouth. You could tell she didn\u2019t want him to and tries to pull away from him but can\u2019t because he\u2019s stronger than her and holding her too tightly. Finally he lets her go and she looks all confused and not sure what to do.<\/p>\n
Woman: (Angry) Behave yourself, Mr. Bond! (Shaking her head) Oh, I can see there\u2019s only one place to keep you quiet. (She opens a curtain and there\u2019s a special table)<\/p>\n
Bond: And what\u2019s this?<\/p>\n
Woman: A motorized traction table for stretching the spine. Some patients call it the rack.<\/p>\n
Bond: (Looking it over) I\u2019m not surprised.<\/p>\n
Woman: (Still annoyed) Oh, get on.<\/p>\n
(Bond lies down on the table and she hooks his waist, wrists and feet to it)<\/p>\n
Woman: There now. First time I\u2019ve felt really safe all day. (Turning the machine on and walking out of the room) I\u2019ll look in to see how you\u2019re doing in fifteen minutes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So while Bond is on the machine being pulled back and forth for a long time as we see the hands of the clock change, this other guy who we can\u2019t see sneaks in and turns the machine up really high so Bond\u2019s in trouble and yells for help. Finally the woman comes back into the room all worried and turns the machine off.<\/p>\n
Woman: You poor dear. I can\u2019t think how it could have happened. I can tell you, it\u2019s a miracle I came back when I did. I can only think that you must have pushed the switch accidentally. Well, you better come along with me. Spend a few minutes in the steam room. It\u2019ll help to relax you.<\/p>\n
Bond: Somebody\u2019s going to wish today had never happened.<\/p>\n
Woman: Oh, you wouldn\u2019t tell Dr. Wain? Please. I\u2019d lose my job.<\/p>\n
Bond: Well, I suppose my silence could have a price.<\/p>\n
Woman: (Looking very concerned) You don\u2019t mean\u2026 OH, NO. (Wags her finger at him)<\/p>\n
So Bond opens the steam room door and the only way she can get away from him is to back into the steam room, and he follows her in and pushes the door closed. Now you can kind of see through the steamy glass her back and him taking her clothes off.<\/p>\n
Stuart laughed in a nervous kind of way, shook his head and said, \u201cSo she has to have sex with him or he\u2019ll tell her boss and she\u2019ll get fired.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, Frankie said, \u201cYou heard the song. Any woman he wants he gets. But you could tell she really wanted to even though she was saying no, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Stuart wrinkled his nose like he wasn\u2019t sure and said, \u201cI guess.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was watching this scene for the sixth time, and it sure looked to me like he made her have sex with him even though she didn\u2019t really want to. Maybe she liked him. Maybe she even had a crush on him. But did she REALLY want to, or did she just not want him to tell on her?<\/p>\n
But then in the next scene that same woman is lying in bed on her stomach naked, though we can\u2019t see the bottom half of her body under a sheet. Bond, wearing a bathrobe, is rubbing her back with this puffy thing on his hand.<\/p>\n
Bond: Mink. It reduces the tension.<\/p>\n
Woman: (Thinking) Not mine. (She closes her eyes and turns her head away)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cSee\u201d, said Frankie, pointing at the movie screen in front of us, \u201cShe wanted to. She went back with him to his hotel room or wherever that is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, said Stuart, shaking his head.<\/p>\n
And then that Fiona woman, who we find out later is really working for the main badguy Largo who is also SPECTRE Number Two, is in bed kissing that Derval guy who we find out later is that other woman Domino\u2019s brother. Derval thinks Fiona\u2019s his secretary, but she\u2019s just about to help that other badguy, Angelo, who\u2019s had his face changed to look exactly like Derval, kill him, and take his place flying on the NATO bomber with the atomic bombs on it. She even gives Angelo the \u201cGamma Gas\u201d to kill all the other guys on the NATO bomber.<\/p>\n
I wondered if a lot of grownup men had sex with their secretaries, and if that other woman dad had sex with was his secretary, though he never said he had one.<\/p>\n
So the guards at the NATO base let Angelo in because he has Derval\u2019s badge and looks like Derval. So when he\u2019s on the plane they let him go up and sit in the copilot\u2019s seat while the pilot flies the plane. He sticks the Gamma Gas into something on the control panel which makes it get into the air of the plane and it kills the pilot and the other crew. He isn\u2019t killed because Fiona gave him a special breathing thing.<\/p>\n
So Angelo flies the plane to where Largo is on his boat near that Nassau place, which Stuart said was in the Bahama Islands, which he said was down near Miami Florida. He lands the plane in the water where Largo\u2019s guys had put special landing lights, and then the plane sinks to the bottom, and Angelo uses his special breathing thing to breathe underwater. He tries to unhook his seat belts but they get stuck and he can\u2019t get out of his pilot seat. Largo swims up in a scuba suit with a knife and Angelo thinks he\u2019s going to help him, but he cuts Angelo\u2019s air hose instead and takes the special white box that lets you blow up the atomic bombs. Angelo can\u2019t breathe so he dies.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo do you think Largo would have killed him even if he hadn\u2019t asked for extra money to do the job?\u201d Stuart asked Frankie.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably\u201d, Frankie said, nodding his head slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u201d, I said, nodding my head too. Those SPECTRE badguys were REALLY bad, not sort of bad like Long John Silver or Captain Nemo.<\/p>\n
So all Largo’s guys in scuba stuff come with this neat small submarine sled thing to get the atomic bombs from the plane while the rest of Largo\u2019s scuba guys put a camouflage net over the plane so it\u2019s harder to see from the surface. They bring the bombs back to Largo\u2019s yacht, the \u201cDisco Volante\u201d, which has special doors on the bottom of the ship so the divers and sub can get in and out so no one else can see them.<\/p>\n
So what none of us could figure out is the scene where Bond is driving his car back to the London MI6 office for the big meeting with all the other \u201cDouble-O\u201d secret agents about the missing jet and the atomic bombs. These guys in a car follow Bond and start shooting at him, but Fiona, on a special motorcycle that can shoot rockets, helps him by blowing up the car of the guys chasing and shooting at him. She\u2019s working for Largo and SPECTRE, so why would she want to keep Bond alive? Did she have a crush on him TOO like all the other women he meets or knows.<\/p>\n
So at the meeting we see nine chairs for what must be the nine Double-O agents because the seventh one is empty, until Bond, whose agent Double-O SEVEN, comes in late to take his seat. In the special meeting packet about all the crew of the plane with the bombs that disappeared, Bond sees a picture of a young woman with that Derval guy who the back of the picture says is his sister. Bond found him dead last night after Angelo killed him, so how could Derval have been on that NATO bomber. So Bond tells his boss, \u201cM\u201d, that he should go to Nassau where I guess that woman is. M worries that Bond just wants to go to enjoy \u201cwater sports\u201d, but sends him anyway.<\/p>\n
Before Bond leaves the office, there\u2019s a scene with him and M\u2019s secretary, Moneypenny. All my friends agreed that she has a crush on him and he does on her, even though she\u2019s older than all the other women he likes to hang out with and have sex with.<\/p>\n
So in the next scene, Bond is in Nassau, underwater hiding, watching Derval\u2019s sister, Domino, swimming underwater too. Neither of them have air tanks so they have to hold their breath, but Domino gets her foot caught in some rocks and is in trouble, but he swims over to save her. They both finally come up to the surface.<\/p>\n
Domino: Thank you, Mr\u2026<\/p>\n
Bond: James Bond. I arrived soon after you went down. I\u2019d been admiring your form.<\/p>\n
Domino: (Wary) Have you, now? Your name\u2019s James Bond and you\u2019ve been admiring my form?<\/p>\n
Bond: Most girls just paddle around. You swim like a man.<\/p>\n
Domino: So do you.<\/p>\n
Bond: Well, I\u2019ve had quite a bit of practice. Do you come here often?<\/p>\n
Domino: Whenever I’m bored. Practically every day.<\/p>\n
Bond: What else do you do, and where?<\/p>\n
Domino: You don\u2019t waste time, do you?<\/p>\n
Bond: No.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always smooth talking the ladies\u201d, Frankie said, laughing through his nose, \u201cShe\u2019s got a crush on him already. Women like it when men are interested in them and say they look good to look at. But the girls WE know, I don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Coop\u201d, Stuart said, \u201cIf you had to make out with one of the sixth grade girls who would it be? Beth or Millie?\u201d Beth was in Stuart and Frankie\u2019s class, and I used to sit next to her last year in fifth grade and used to talk to her about school stuff, like SRA and book reports. Most of the boys liked her. Millie was a new girl in my class who had just come to Burns Park in January. She had red hair and was super pretty.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Abby\u201d, I said, thinking that if you were talking about good looking girls, she should be on the list too.<\/p>\n
\u201cOHHH\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cSo you\u2019ve got a thing for Abby, do you? Well it figures because you live right across the street and you can look in her bedroom window from YOUR bedroom window. SO ROMANTIC!\u201d<\/p>\n
I realized I should never have mentioned Abby. It was always too dangerous to talk about girls in front of other boys, because they could always do THIS to you, and then you\u2019d get embarrassed and it would get worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cNO\u201d, I said, \u201cShe\u2019s just another girl. I just thought if you were making a list of the best looking girls she should be on it. That\u2019s all. It\u2019s not like I LIKE her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen you talking to her\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cJust admit it\u2026 you like her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s okay\u201d, I said, \u201cI mean when she sees me she says hello. What am I supposed to do, be rude?\u201d I had to get them off this Abby thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo who would you guys make out with?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cMillie\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cIf I HAD to, definitely Millie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frankie said, \u201cMe? Still Beth\u2026 but only if I HAD too, not that I have a crush on her or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt mad. They got to talk about a girl they\u2019d make out with and no one made them embarrassed about it. But me? It was no fair.<\/p>\n
But then there was that scene where Bond was eating lunch with Domino, and he asked her to try some of his conch chowder\u2026<\/p>\n
Bond: How long have you been out here?<\/p>\n
Domino: About three weeks. (Starting to laugh) Don\u2019t you ever stop asking questions?<\/p>\n
Bond: All right. Change of tack. (Holding up his bowl of soup) Have some of my conch chowder.<\/p>\n
Domino: You\u2019ve been reading the wrong books, Mr. Bond.<\/p>\n
Bond: About conch chowder?<\/p>\n
Domino: Being an aphrodisiac.<\/p>\n
Bond: Well, it happens I like conch chowder.<\/p>\n
Domino: (Grinning) Oh!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cDo you guys know what an \u2018aphrodisiac\u2019 is?\u201d Frankie asked us. I didn\u2019t know, though I thought it had something to do with having sex, so it was one of those questions that was dangerous to answer either yes OR no. If I said yes, then Frankie might ask me to say what it was, and if I said no, then he might think I was still a little kid who didn\u2019t know anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what is it?\u201d Frankie asked. I could tell Stuart was getting mad at him for asking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t YOU tell us\u201d, Stuart said, \u201cFranklin Lane, man of all knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHa ha\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cI WISH! I really don\u2019t know, so I was asking you guys.\u201d Now Stuart looked uncomfortable so I helped him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it might have something to do with sex stuff\u201d, I said. That seemed safe to say, because Frankie really didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
So this was the part of the movie where Bond was figuring out that Domino was involved with Largo. She was saying she was his \u201cniece\u201d which meant he was her uncle. So later that evening Bond goes to the casino where Largo and Domino are and he plays that card game, which we all knew was called \u201cBaccarat\u201d, against Largo and wins and gets some of Largo\u2019s money. Largo wants to win his money back so he lets Bond take Domino for a drink while he keeps playing.<\/p>\n
Bond: (To Domino) I understand you\u2019re Mr. Largo\u2019s niece.<\/p>\n
Domino: (Sad and thoughtful) It sounds better than\u2026 what would you say? Mistress? Kept woman?<\/p>\n
Bond: I wouldn\u2019t say that. Where did you meet him?<\/p>\n
Domino: In Capri. I was there with my brother, Francois. (thoughtful) Strange. I found Emilio attractive then.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cSo she\u2019s not Largo\u2019s niece, right?\u201d said Frankie, \u201cShe\u2019s his mistress. Like she\u2019s his girlfriend but he\u2019s in charge of her like she\u2019s his wife and he has sex with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEwww\u201d, said Stuart, sticking out his tongue, \u201cShe has sex with LARGO?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought that was pretty disgusting too, and said, \u201cWe never find out if that\u2019s really true.\u201d<\/p>\n
So then Bond finds out that that Derval guy who was supposed to fly in the NATO bomber but was killed by Angelo was Domino\u2019s brother, but she doesn\u2019t know he\u2019s dead.<\/p>\n
Domino: He\u2019s a commandant with the NATO forces there. He\u2019s a wonderful person. The trouble is, I never meet anyone like him.<\/p>\n
Bond: Only men like Largo and myself.<\/p>\n
Domino: You are not like Largo.<\/p>\n
Bond: No? Why do you say that?<\/p>\n
Domino: The way you hold me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cOh, wow\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cShe\u2019s totally got the hots for Bond.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way you HOLD me\u201d, he said, trying to sound like Domino, then sounding like himself, \u201cShe\u2019s such a flirt.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wondered if Molly and I had ever \u201chad the hots\u201d for each other or were we just best friends. We liked being next to each other with our shoulders or legs touching. There was that one time when she climbed up right in front of me in one of the spruce trees in our old backyard and her chest touched mine. That felt good too. But we never did any of that dancing or hugging or holding hands stuff that older kids did when they were girlfriend and boyfriend. Stuart said if he \u201chad to\u201d, he\u2019d make out with Millie, and Frankie would with Beth. Did that mean they \u201chad the hots\u201d for them, or just that it wouldn\u2019t be bad.<\/p>\n
And what about Abby, did I have the hots for her? I mean I liked her, but I didn\u2019t want to have the hots for her. It just sounded too messy and complicated. Better she just be my friend, but that was almost impossible, because if you spent time talking to a girl outside of class when you didn\u2019t have to, the other boys would think she was your girlfriend and tease you. And what if Abby WANTED to be my girlfriend, that would be even worse.<\/p>\n
So the next day Bond meets that CIA guy Felix Leiter and they go to the British secret agent headquarters on the island. That Q guy is there, who gives Bond all these cool special gadgets and stuff, though Bond doesn\u2019t like him.<\/p>\n
Bond: (sees Q) Oh no!<\/p>\n
Q: Ah, 007.<\/p>\n
Bond: (Sarcastic) What a wonderful surprise!<\/p>\n
Q: Well, for me too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cQ\u2019s great\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cI don\u2019t know why Bond doesn\u2019t like him, he gives him all sorts of cool stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Q gives Bond a Geiger counter that looks like a watch to check for radiation. An underwater waterproof camera that can take infrared pictures in the dark and also has a Geiger counter to check for radiation. A tiny flare gun. A little tube that you can use to breathe underwater for four minutes and a tiny capsule for Bond to swallow that sends out a homing signal so they can track wherever he is.<\/p>\n
So then Bond goes scuba diving under Largo\u2019s yacht and takes pictures with the special camera to show that the ship has doors in the bottom that let people go in and out underwater, but the Geiger counter part says the bombs aren\u2019t there. Largo\u2019s men figure out Bond\u2019s under the ship and try to get him but he escapes underwater while Largo throws handgrenades at him from the boat to try and blow him up, but he gets away.<\/p>\n
So Largo invites Bond to come to his compound and Bond goes there. Domino is there swimming wearing a bikini so you can see most of her body. Largo asks Bond to take Domino to the big Junkanoo parade that night. While Bond is there at Largo\u2019 place, Fiona finds Bond\u2019s helper Paula and Fiona and one of Largo\u2019s guys capture her.<\/p>\n
When Bond comes back to the parade from Largo\u2019s place, he finds out Paula\u2019s gone missing, so he goes looking for her. He sneaks back into Largo\u2019s place at night and finds that Paula\u2019s in a room in the basement, dead. He\u2019d heard Largo\u2019s doctor guy say she took poison. But Largo\u2019s guys see Bond and sound the alarm, and one of them sneaks up on him by the pool and they start fighting and both fall in. Largo then closes the top part over the pool so Bond and the guy he\u2019s fighting with can\u2019t get out, and opens up the gates to the tunnel between the pools so the sharks can swim from their pool through to the regular swimming pool.<\/p>\n
Before the sharks get there, Bond finishes off the guy he was fighting with, uses his little four-minute breathing thing and hides behind the tunnel door when the sharks come through, and then swims through the tunnel the other way to the now empty shark pool. No one knows he\u2019s there, they think he\u2019s being eaten by the sharks but it\u2019s only the other guy he was fighting with, and he manages to get out of the compound even though Largo\u2019s guys are shooting at him.<\/p>\n
Then after the parade is done Bond goes back to his hotel room and finds Fiona taking a bath, naked.<\/p>\n
Fiona: Aren\u2019t you in the wrong room Mr. Bond?<\/p>\n
Bond: Not from where I\u2019m standing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cShe\u2019s a beautiful woman even if she\u2019s evil.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fiona: Since you are here, would you mind giving me something to put on?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Bond gives her a pair of slippers for her feet. We all laugh louder than I remember laughing at this part the first time I saw it with Billy, Teddy and Gil.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to see you naked, lady!\u201d said Stuart.<\/p>\n
Fiona gives Bond a look as he sits comfortably in a chair and puts his feet up and keeps looking at her. She drops the slippers on the floor, and takes the towel out of her long red hair and wraps it around her body as she climbs out of the tub.<\/p>\n
Fiona: Anyway, I\u2019m very glad to see you again, Mr. Bond.<\/p>\n
Bond: I\u2019m glad to see you again.<\/p>\n
Fiona: (Getting out of the tub wrapped in the towel) I had a feeling you\u2019ve been avoiding me.<\/p>\n
Bond: Well, you see, I had no idea that we were next-door neighbors.<\/p>\n
Fiona: (Still covered by the towel and drying off her shoulders) Oh, they just moved me down this afternoon. It\u2019s extraordinary, isn’t it? Almost as if\u2026<\/p>\n
Bond : (Smiling) As if it was intended. Yes, it is extraordinary.<\/p>\n
Fiona: Shouldn\u2019t you get out of those wet clothes? You\u2019ll catch your death of cold.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Fiona approaches him just wrapped in her towel and puts her hands on the sides of his chest.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoving in for the kill\u201d, Stuart said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre there any women in this movie that aren\u2019t like super sexy?\u201d Frankie asked, chuckling through his nose and shaking his head.<\/p>\n
Stuart asked him, \u201cIf you HAD to make out with one of the women in the movie, which one would you pick – Domino, Fiona, Moneypenny, or Paula\u2026 before she\u2019s dead that is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm\u201d, said Frankie, thinking, \u201cThat\u2019s a hard one. And remember that woman in the beginning that Bond made have sex with him because she almost got him killed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Okay, I thought, here Frankie and Stuart go again, I\u2019m going to make a choice too. So I said, \u201cIf I HAD to make out with one of them I\u2019d choose Paula, because she\u2019s a secret agent too but trying to help me and I know she\u2019s on my team.\u201d This time they didn\u2019t try to embarrass me, which I was happy about.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes sense\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cFor Coop at least, he\u2019s a team man. I think I\u2019d pick Fiona. She\u2019s got that red hair and she can ride a motorcycle that shoots rockets and she\u2019s as much of a secret agent as Bond is, she just works for the badguys.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWouldn\u2019t you be afraid she\u2019d get tired of you and kill you?\u201d Stuart asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said I\u2019d make out with her not MARRY her!\u201d Frankie said, \u201cSo what about you\u2026 Stu?\u201d Frankie was getting silly. I’d never heard anyone ever call Stuart \u201cStu\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell I\u2019d go with Domino I guess\u201d, said Stuart, like he was really thinking about it, \u201cShe seems really smart and, you know\u2026 what\u2019s the word when you\u2019re like smart enough to know what\u2019s really going on and are able to figure out when people are telling you stuff that really isn\u2019t true? I mean she\u2019s the one that saves the day for Bond in that last scene.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI SAID make out with her\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cNOT marry her!\u201d<\/p>\n
And as we continued talking about it, in the movie, Bond and Fiona were lying in bed together, at least the top parts of their bodies outside of the sheets were naked, but you couldn\u2019t see her breasts.<\/p>\n
Fiona: Do you like wild things, Mr. Bond, James Bond?<\/p>\n
Bond: (Yanking her arm so she falls on her back on the bed) Wild? YOU should be locked up in a cage. (Starting to kiss her and her hands reach back and grab the curved metal bars of the head of the bed)<\/p>\n
Fiona: This bed FEELS like a cage. All these bars. (Her hand reaching up to the top of the metal bars on the head of the bed) Do you think I\u2019ll be safe?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think Fiona WANTS to be safe\u201d, said Frankie, chuckling.<\/p>\n
But then after they’re done making out in the bed and I guess having sex too, they get all dressed up to go watch the parade. Fiona is spraying hairspray on her long red hair and brushing it.<\/p>\n
Fiona: You made a shocking mess out of my hair, you sadistic brute. (Standing and turning her back to Bond) Will you zip me up, please?<\/p>\n
Bond: (Zipping her up) No wonder you can get dressed so quickly. On the way we can have a little talk. You may find it interesting. Come on.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cYeah we had sex\u201d, said Frankie, pretending he was thinking like Bond, \u201cBut back to business you evil bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGeez, Frankie\u201d, Stuart said, looking at him, \u201cYou\u2019re such a potty mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry\u201d, Frankie said, \u201cI\u2019m just trying to think like \u2018James Bond, double-O seven\u2019.\u201d He tried to say the name with an English accent.<\/p>\n
But when Bond opens the hotel room door, Largo\u2019s guys are out there with guns and now have Bond captured. They open his jacket and pull his gun out of the holster under his shoulder.<\/p>\n
Bond: (recovering) Friends of yours, no doubt. Come in!<\/p>\n
Fiona: You dress quickly, too. I didn\u2019t see that gun in the mirror.<\/p>\n
Bond: Not that it matters, but that was under the pillow all the time.<\/p>\n
Fiona: And when did you find out?<\/p>\n
Bond: You\u2019re wearing the same ring as Largo.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cExactly\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cThat was pretty stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fiona: (Looking at it on her hand) It\u2019s a ring I like to wear.<\/p>\n
Bond: Vanity has its dangers.<\/p>\n
Fiona: Vanity, Mr. Bond, is something you know so much about.<\/p>\n
Bond: (Fiercely) My dear girl, don\u2019t flatter yourself. What I did this evening was for king and country.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Frankie and Stuart did a big laugh at that line, so I did too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the best line in the whole movie\u201d, Stuart said, still laughing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYep\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cThat\u2019s what he says to all the girls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fiona: (Fiercely as well) But of course! I forget your ego, Mr. Bond. James Bond, who only has to make love to a woman and she starts to hear heavenly choirs singing. She repents, then immediately returns to the side of right and virtue. (Walking right up to him) But not this one. (Fixing his tie) What a blow it must have been, you having a failure. (She goes out the hotel room door)<\/p>\n
Bond: (Turning to leave under guard now) Well, you can\u2019t win them all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So now we see the car with Largo\u2019s guys in the front seat with one pointing a gun at Bond who is with Fiona in the back seat. Some drunk guy outside the car sticks an open bottle of alcohol drink in the car window and asks them if they want to buy it. Fiona just happens to have a cigarette lighter lit to light her cigarette so Bond kicks the bottle so the alcohol spills all over the back of the front seat then pushes Fiona\u2019s hand with the lighter against the seat back and it catches on fire. The car fills with smoke and Largo\u2019s guy with the gun catches on fire too and screams. Bond pushes the back door open and rolls out of the car and crawls into the crowd and runs away.<\/p>\n
So that Pinder guy finds Bond and takes him into the \u201cKiss Kiss Club\u201d to hide. Women in little bikinis that barely cover them are dancing and shaking their breasts. But Bond soon sees Largo\u2019s guys looking around for him, so he grabs some woman sitting next to him.<\/p>\n
Bond: (Taking her arm) Thank you, I\u2019d love to. (Takes her out on the dance floor)<\/p>\n
Woman: (Confused) Love to what? (They start dancing) Oh, you\u2019re mad! Do you know that?<\/p>\n
What was great about James Bond was he always figured out the best thing to do and knew exactly the right thing to say like he had everything figured out. And he didn\u2019t even tell lies a lot, just stuff that was kind of really true if you thought about it. I just liked watching him in action and imagining someday being able to figure everything out the same way and say stuff that was so \u201cwitty\u201d, that\u2019s the word a lot of grownups used.<\/p>\n
So Bond swings around dancing with this woman and Fiona is standing there looking at him.<\/p>\n
Fiona: May I cut in?<\/p>\n
Woman: (Angry, to Bond) You should\u2019ve told me your wife was here. (Walks away and Bond and Fiona start to dance)<\/p>\n
Bond: Do you come here often?<\/p>\n
Fiona: It\u2019s no good you trying to escape, Mr. Bond.<\/p>\n
Bond: (Dancing with her and looking around seeing Largo\u2019s guys watching them) I don\u2019t want to escape. Strange as it may seem, I\u2019ve grown accustomed to your face.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cMan\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cHe\u2019s always SO cool. Don\u2019t you wish you were THAT cool?\u201d Frankie and I both nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd evil Fiona\u2019s about to get hers!\u201d said Frankie.<\/p>\n
Behind the bongo player madly banging on the bongos, we see a hand holding a pistol come out of the curtains. As the bongo playing gets louder Bond sees the gun and somehow swings Fiona around in front of him at just the moment the guy shoots. He gets Fiona in the back instead of Bond. She slumps dead in his arms. He drags her over to a table where other people are sitting and rests her in an empty chair.<\/p>\n
Bond: (To them) Do you mind if my friend sits this one out? She\u2019s just dead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
All three of us laughed. That was another great line.<\/p>\n
So the next day, Bond and Leiter are back in the helicopter flying over the ocean around Nassau and they finally find the hidden jet bomber under its camouflage net. The helicopter has those big \u201cpontoon\u201d things so they can land on the water. Bond puts on scuba stuff and goes down underwater and looks at the plane, but the bombs aren\u2019t there. The dead pilot, Angelo, is still there in the pilot\u2019s seat in the cockpit and Bond takes the \u201cdog tags\u201d from around his neck that really belonged to Domino\u2019s brother Derval, who\u2019s now dead.<\/p>\n
Leiter: Oh, great! Now, what\u2019s our next move?<\/p>\n
Bond: We\u2019ll check on the Disco Volante. If the bombs aren\u2019t on board her now, they soon will be.<\/p>\n
Leiter: Who are you going to ask? Largo?<\/p>\n
Bond: (Looking at dog tags.) No, I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll have to.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cLeiter seems kind of stupid for a secret agent guy\u201d, I said, \u201cHe doesn\u2019t seem to ever have any ideas what to do.\u201d Both Frankie and Stuart agreed.<\/p>\n
So after they get back to Nassau, Bond finds Domino swimming underwater and they swim up to the surface together and start kissing and making out in the water. Finally when they get to the shore he tells her that Largo had her brother killed by his guys and gives her his dog tags and watch. She, of course, says she\u2019s falling in love with Bond and agrees to help him find out where the bombs are. She takes his special camera with the Geiger counter and will take it on Vargas\u2019 Disco Volante yacht and see if the bombs are there. So while they\u2019re talking, one of Vargas\u2019 guys with a gun is sneaking up on them, but before he can shoot Bond, Bond grabs Domino\u2019s speargun and shoots him in the stomach, dead.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cDomino was out for a nice afternoon swim with her speargun.\u201d<\/p>\n
So now came the part of the movie with all the big action scenes, the part that I really liked the most the first few times I saw the movie. Largo and his guys are on shore putting on their scuba stuff to go out to get the bombs, and Bond is hiding and watching. He grabs one of Largo\u2019s guys who\u2019s off on his own, knocks him out, and puts on the guy\u2019s scuba stuff. He swallows that capsule that will let Pinder and Leiter track where he is. With the scuba mask on, Largo and his guys don\u2019t know it\u2019s him, and he swims with the rest of them out to the Disco Volante and they go inside the ship through the doors in the bottom of the boat. Largo says that their target for the bombs is Miami.<\/p>\n
Then Bond goes with Largo\u2019s guys and their minisub to get the bomb out of the secret underwater place they are keeping it, but inside that place the main guy of the frogman team figures out Bond is not one of them. One of Largo\u2019s guys fights with Bond while the others leave with the minisub and the bombs. Bond kills the guy fighting with him but the other guys have locked him in the underwater place.<\/p>\n
So while Bond is doing all that, Domino is on the Disco Volante trying to use the special camera to see if the bombs are there, but Largo sees her doing it and figures out that she\u2019s working for Bond now. He locks her in her room and says he\u2019s going to torture her, but has to leave to check out the bombs, which have just come back from the secret place they were kept in.<\/p>\n
Bond figures out how to get to the surface above the underwater secret cave and sees Leiter and Pinder in the helicopter and shoots off his little flare gun so they see him. They lower a cable from the helicopter to lift Bond out. He tells them to radio headquarters that the target is Miami and where the bombs are now.<\/p>\n
Bond: Get your radio man onto Orlando Beach. Warn them the target is Miami! Also, the bombs are transferred from the Disco Volante onto a wreck off Fowley Point!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Soon there is a big plane in the sky above the Disco Volante and all the goodguys in scuba suits, spearguns and parachutes are jumping out and parachuting down into the water. They find Largo\u2019s guys swimming underwater with the bombs and there\u2019s a big battle between the two sides, Largo\u2019s guys in black suits and the goodguys in orange suits. Lots of guys on both sides are shooting and getting shot with spears. With Bond\u2019s help, the goodguys of course win and they recapture the atomic bombs.<\/p>\n
\u201cBadguys ALWAYS wear black\u201d, said Frankie.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cI guess that\u2019s the rule so you can always tell them apart from the goodguys.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Largo and a few of his guys escape in the minisub back to the Disco Volante, with Bond following them using that tiny underwater motor thing that Q gave him. When the others go inside the boat, Bond stays underwater but hangs onto the boat. He manages to climb on board while the Disco Volante speeds up, but it is now being chased by the goodguy ships, one even is like a destroyer with big ship guns.<\/p>\n
Largo tells his guy controlling the Disco Volante to separate the front part of the ship from the back. The back part stays behind to fight the goodguy ships, but pretty soon the destroyer blows them up. The front part has those \u201chydrofoil\u201d things on the bottom which let the boat go super fast, and it starts to get away. Largo and the guy driving the ship are in the \u201cbridge\u201d.<\/p>\n
Largo: We got away from them.<\/p>\n
Crew guy: We\u2019ve still got one bomb aboard.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So that Kutze guy, who\u2019s a doctor that works for Largo but really likes Domino, gets into her cabin and unties her and tells her to please stop Largo.<\/p>\n
Kutze: (To Domino) The bomb cannot be exploded now. I threw the arming device into the sea. Do you understand?<\/p>\n
Domino: Yes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Bond somehow hangs on to one of the hydrofoils and climbs up onto that speeding front part of the Disco Volante. He sneaks into the \u201cbridge\u201d where Largo is now driving the boat. The crew guys on the bridge fight with Bond but he knocks them out and throws them off the ship. He continues to fight with Largo while also trying to steer the ship away from rocks. But finally Largo knocks him to the floor and pulls out a gun.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s about to shoot Bond when we hear a speargun shoot him in the back. As Largo falls down, we see Domino behind him with a speargun.<\/p>\n
Domino: I\u2019m glad I killed him.<\/p>\n
Bond: YOUR glad!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So they can\u2019t slow the boat down so Bond, Domino and that Kutze guy that helped her all have to jump off the side of the boat into the water. The boat crashes into the rocks and blows up. A big bomber type plane flies low over the ocean and drops a liferaft that Bond and Domino swim to and climb on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to that other Kutze guy?\u201d said Stuart.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think he matters\u201d, said Frankie.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, said Stuart, \u201cHe\u2019s the one that threw away the detonator so Largo couldn\u2019t blow up the atomic bomb.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cI guess.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bond hooks his body to this special gadget and then pushes a button that inflates this helium balloon that goes way up in the air. He holds Domino as the plane flies overhead and grabs the balloon and the cable and lifts Bond and Domino up in the air as the James Bond music plays and it\u2019s the end of the movie.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo James Bond and Domino probably go somewhere to make out\u201d, said Frankie, \u201cAnd they all live happily ever after.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, said Stuart, looking at me and grinning, \u201cExcept for most everybody else who\u2019s dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
All the music and the names of all the people that worked on the movie finished and the regular lights in the theater came up.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne more time?\u201d asked Frankie. Stuart nodded. I think if I was there at the theater by myself I wouldn\u2019t see it again. I just kept thinking about Mike calling it a \u201cnasty\u201d movie. I mean it was also super exciting, but what in the movie did I really want to watch again.<\/p>\n
But I really wanted Frankie and Stuart, all my friends really, to think that I liked the same things they did as much as they did. So I nodded my head, but still thought about all the nasty stuff, specially all the nasty stuff that Bond did, and all the people he killed, to win in the end for the goodguys, and I guess save, along with that Kutze guy, all those people in Miami from getting blown up by an atomic bomb.<\/p>\n
But watching it the SEVENTH time, something else came into my mind really strong, mom might say \u201cit hit me\u201d, that this movie was all about grownups. There weren\u2019t any kids in the movie, not even older kids. This was the grownups\u2019 world, their teams of goodguys and badguys. And even their goodguys did bad stuff. Some of it they figured they had to do to beat the badguys who were doing way more bad stuff. But some of it was just to have their grownup fun making out with and having sex with women.<\/p>\n
When us kids were finally in charge, our world would be different. We wouldn\u2019t have to have all those goodguys and badguys. We wouldn\u2019t do bad stuff just to have fun. It felt good to think that, though I wasn\u2019t sure how we could actually do it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was Saturday, and it was cold and gray and windy and wet outside. We were all still waiting for that first day of spring. You knew it when it came. All of a sudden the day would be a little warmer, the sun would shine, and there would be that energy in the air, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[1777,13,1774,1799,1800,1775],"class_list":["post-7876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","tag-1960s","tag-ann-arbor","tag-autobiography","tag-free-range-kid","tag-growing-up","tag-memoir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
![](\"https:\/\/cdn.prod.dailykos.com\/images\/1376348\/large\/Thunderball_-_UK_cinema_poster.jpg?1733694540\")
It was Saturday, and it was cold and gray and windy and wet outside. We were all still waiting for that first day of spring. You knew it when it came. All of a sudden the day would be a little warmer, the sun would shine, and there would be that energy in the air, that you could even feel in your body, like everything was suddenly coming back alive around you, and you could smell it in all the plants. Mom\u2019s new friend Maryjane said that Mother Nature would flip a switch and it would suddenly be spring.<\/p>\n